Editing Confessional (section)

{{Short description|Small, enclosed booth used for confession}}
{{Other uses}}
[[File:Cathédrale Saint-Étienne de Toulouse - chapelle des reliques - Confessionnal PM31000752.jpg|thumb|Confessional at the [[Toulouse Cathedral]]]]
[[File:Luther-kirkko, rippituoli.jpg|thumb|300px|A confessional in [[Luther Church, Helsinki|Luther Church]] ([[Helsinki]], Finland)]]

A '''confessional''' is a box, cabinet, booth, or stall where the [[priest]] from some [[Christianity|Christian]] denominations sits to hear the [[Confession (religion)|confession]]s of a [[penitent]]s sins,i.e., wrong-doings", mistakes, errors, regrets. It is the traditional venue for the [[sacrament]] in the [[Roman Catholic Church]] and the [[Lutheran Church]]es,<ref name="Schmucker2013">{{cite book|last=Schmucker|first=Samuel Simon|title=American Lutheranism Vindicated: or, Examination of the Lutheran Symbols, on Certain Disputed Topics|year= 2013|publisher=[[Simon & Schuster]]|language=English|isbn=978-1627935715|page=81}}</ref><ref name="EB1911Confessional"/> but similar structures are also used in [[Anglican]] churches of an [[Anglo-Catholic]] orientation.  In the Catholic Church, confessions should occur only in a confessional or [[Oratory (worship)|oratory]], except under special circumstances or just reason.<ref>[[1983 Code of Canon Law]], Canon 964.3</ref>

The confessional is usually a wooden structure, with a centre compartment—entered through a door or curtain—where the priest sits, and on each side there is a latticed opening for the penitents to speak through and a step on which they kneel. By this arrangement the priest is hidden, but the penitent is visible to the public. Confessionals sometimes form part of the architectural scheme of the church; many finely decorated specimens, dating from the late 16th and the 17th centuries, are found in churches on the continent of Europe. A notable example, in Renaissance style, is in the {{interlanguage link|Saint Michael's church, Leuven|lt=Saint Michael's church|fr|Église Saint-Michel de Louvain}} at [[Leuven]], but more usually, confessionals are movable pieces of furniture.<ref name="EB1911Confessional"/>

In modern practice of the Catholic, Lutheran and Anglican churches, apart from receiving absolution in the confessional, many churches offer private Confession and Absolution at the [[altar rails|chancel rails]] or in a reconciliation room, as well as during communal penitential rites (cf. ''[[General Confession]]'').<ref name="Cunningham2009">{{cite book |last1=Cunningham |first1=Lawrence |title=An Introduction to Catholicism |year=2009 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0521846073 |page=113 |language=English}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Private Absolution and the Confessional Seal |url=https://www.els.org/wp-content/download/doctrine/Private%20Absolution%20and%20Confessional%20Seal.pdf |publisher=[[Evangelical Lutheran Synod]] |access-date=20 April 2021 |page=2 |language=English |date=1 October 2019}}</ref>

In [[Eastern Orthodox Church|Eastern Orthodoxy]] and [[Oriental Orthodox Churches|Oriental Orthodoxy]] confessionals are not used: the confession often occurs in sight of other believers, e.g., those waiting in the row for the same purpose, but at some distance from them to not break the "seal of confession". Let it be understood that the "seal of confession" is technically of Roman usage.